(c) Limitations of the Indicator: The indicator does not measure the total rate of
deforestation but focuses only on deforestation caused by harvesting of fuelwood.The
area value does not give any indication of the quality of the forest or of forest values
or practices. The indicator does not provide information on the degradation of the
forest resources in a country. The total forest area in a country might remain
unchanged, even as the quality of the forest degrades. The indicator covers an
extremely diverse range of forests, from open tree savannah to dense tropical forests.
(d) Alternative Definitions/Indicators: The ratio of rate of deforestation related to
fuelwood harvest to the total rate of deforestation could serve as an alternative
indicator to measure the impact of use of forest resources as fuelwood on
deforestation.
ASSESSMENT OF DATA (a) Data Needed to Compile the Indicator: The total forest area of a country,
including plantations, at different yearly intervals; fuelwood production or use; and
the annual total forest fellings. Data on the fuelwood harvest might be available from
national agencies responsible for forestry. If there is no reliable information on the
level of fuelwood production, the data on CRW compiled by the International Energy
Agency (IEA) for many developing and developed countries could be used as a proxy. (b) National and International Data Availability: Data on the extent of forests
(natural and plantations) and total forest fellings are available for most countries, at
both the national and sub-national scales. The data are often estimates, which are not
always comparable because of changes in definitions and assessment methodologies.
International data are available from FAO Forest Resources Assessments and the
statistics of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).
National data are available from ministries responsible for forestry and statistics.
International data provided by other institutions — for example, the World Resources
Institute — are mostly based on information from the FAO Forest Resources
Assessments.
